The Red String of Lowered Expectations
by LadyDivine91
Summary: Kurt had hopes for his and Sebastian's seventh Christmas as a couple, but Sebastian's business trip over the holidays pretty much destroys them. But on Christmas morning, Kurt wakes up to find that his boyfriend has planned a sort of surprise scavenger hunt. FutureFic. Kurtbastian. Kurt H. Sebastian S.


_Santa baby, just slip a Sable under the tree for me…Been an awful good girl, Santa baby,_ _so hurry down the chimney tonight…_

"What…the… _fuck_ …" Kurt wakes up Christmas day, not to a kiss, or awesome morning fellatio, but to a telephone call. Actually, _three_ telephone calls. After an all-night mope fest, which included _The Notebook_ , _A Walk to Remember_ , and half a bottle of peppermint Schnapps, he wasn't awake enough to pick up the first two. But whoever is calling has no intention of letting him sleep in, which helps him come to the realization that his obnoxious boyfriend has changed his ring tone from _Into the Groove_ to _Santa Baby_. Kurt reaches for his phone, prepared to shut it off, not caring whom he exiles to voicemail oblivion. All that matters is that he knows the call is not from his dad. His dad happened to call the night before, when Kurt had gotten his buzz going, and promised to wait for Kurt to call him back. Curious who he'll be cutting loose without even a _Merry Christmas_ , Kurt takes a peek at the screen, squinting to avoid the brighter than necessary light. He coughs when he sees the number.

 _Speak of the devil…_

Kurt debates letting it go, but his sentimental side kicks in and he picks up the call. Besides, he might be able to get in one _Fuck you!_ before he shuts his phone off for good.

He hears, "Merry Christmas, sweetheart," before a word comes out of his mouth.

"What did I say about messing with the settings to my phone?" Kurt grumbles.

"Oh, come on," Sebastian says. "You needed something festive."

"Madonna's festive." Kurt rolls over and pulls the comforter over his head. "So, where are you? When am I going to see you?" he asks flatly. Sebastian going out of town over Christmas had been a huge point of contention a few weeks back – one Kurt hadn't entirely forgiven him for yet. Being their seventh Christmas together as official boyfriends, Kurt had had so many hopes for this Christmas, one that he'd wanted to wear on a certain ring finger. But apparently, Sebastian didn't feel the same.

They were both in love with one another, in the same relationship, just at different stages, and it stung.

"You'll see me later," Sebastian answers, "but until then, I arranged a little surprise for you."

Kurt's eyebrows lift, raising his tired eyelids with them, but only a sliver. "Really? Like, are there mariachi singers outside my window or something? Because you know how I feel about being serenaded."

"Why don't you look at the picture frame next to your side of the bed?"

Kurt climbs out from underneath his dark, cozy comforter and into the slightly less dark bedroom. "Ugh. Did you replace that picture of us in Madrid with another naked selfie? Because I think I've got nine hundred of those."

"It's nice to hear you still get so excited over the prospect of seeing my naked body."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather be seeing it in person." Kurt looks at the picture frame, blinking his eyes when he thinks he sees it, the only thing that he doesn't remember being there before - a red string, pinched underneath the frame. It spills over the edge of his bedside dresser, on to the carpet, and marks a path towards the door. "Uh…"

"Do you see a red string?" Sebastian asks impatiently.

"Yeah." Kurt reaches out to retrieve the end of it. "How…how did you do this?"

"I had a little help."

"You hired someone to break into our penthouse!?" Kurt squeals, ducking back under the comforter. "While I slept!?"

"Not a stranger," Sebastian says, as if that makes it better. "Someone you know. Very well, as a matter of fact."

"Yeah, Bas, but still…"

"Do you trust me?"

Kurt huffs, sitting up and getting out of bed. "That remains to be seen."

"Kurt…"

"Okay, okay. I'll get over the creepy factor and play along."

"Good. Now, I'm going to stay on the phone with you while you do this, so you'll need to carry me."

"What else is new?" Kurt mutters, sliding his feet into his slippers and following the string towards the bedroom door. It hangs ajar, giving this whole 'surprise' of Sebastian's a sort of serial killer movie feel. "Alright" - Kurt follows the string where it leads along the floor of the hallway – "what do I do?"

"Just follow the string."

"You know, pilfering ideas from Disney movies is a sin, I believe."

"Funny. I actually didn't, thank you very much. My grandmother used to do this for me and my sister during Easter. It's how we found our baskets."

"Awwww…" Kurt can't help picturing a young Sebastian Smythe, dressed in a starched, white button-down shirt and pastel short pants, following a red string over the lawn of the Smythe Family Estate, in search of a basket filled with jelly beans and a gigantic chocolate rabbit. "That's so…" Kurt gasps when he finds his first present, sitting on a red satin pillow, on the seat of a chair in the hallway – an Alexander McQueen wrist cuff in gold leather with a skull clasp. Kurt had seen one on the Neiman Marcus website, but he never said anything about it. He didn't know that Sebastian knew.

Did he check Kurt's browser history?

If he did, searching for ideas on what to get Kurt for Christmas, then that's sort of romantic…in a stalker-ish way.

"Do you like it?" Sebastian asks.

"I love it!" Kurt slips it on. "It's just what I wanted."

"I know," Sebastian says in a lower, sexier voice, one that hints that he found out Kurt wanted it through less than honest means. "I thought, you know, you needed something new and fabulous to wear in case some special occasion should come up…unexpectedly..."

"Of course," Kurt says, holding his wrist up to look at his new bauble in the light. "But how in the world did you get it? Neiman Marcus has been sold out for weeks. Customer service said they didn't expect to get any more any time soon."

"I picked it up on my layover in Milan yesterday."

"Oh," Kurt says sadly, looking at the gorgeous gift, knowing that he won't be able to properly thank his boyfriend for it until later…or maybe even another few days if he's traveling on Christmas frickin' Day. Sebastian puts way too much trust in the travel industry if he thinks they're actually going to be able to swing getting him to New York by tonight from…wherever he is.

Kurt looks at the cuff and furrows his brow. But…if Sebastian picked it up in Milan _yesterday_ , who did he send it to to get it in the house? And did he overnight it? That had to cost about as much as the cuff!

"Come on, babe," Sebastian says. "Are you continuing on to the next present? You have one or two more."

"Alright, alright," Kurt says, focusing on the string under his feet. "I'm walking…I'm walking…I'm walking…I'm…oh my God! Sebastian! You didn't! Are these…"

"Geoff Double Monk Strap shoes," Sebastian preens. Kurt can hear his smug grin over the phone. "Straight from London, baby," he says in an awful English accent.

"But I thought you said I have too many pairs of shoes." Kurt sizes them up next to his slippered feet, not daring to put them on without a pair of socks.

"Pfft. And you believed me? Is there such a thing as too many pairs of shoes?"

"I didn't think so," Kurt comments. "But you seemed to."

"I was pulling your leg. Besides, I thought you might need a new pair of black dress shoes soon. You know…"

"Just in case?" Kurt guesses, setting the shoes aside, wondering what huge event Sebastian seems to think he's going to need to get ready for. With the exception of Sebastian's stupid business trip, they didn't have anything planned until the New Year.

"Anyway, I picked those up on my way to your next gift, which I know you're going to love, so go find it already!"

Kurt barely has to follow the string before he catches sight of what awaits him, a foot or so away from the landing of the stairs. The red string comes to a stop around the handle of a black leather bag. "A Gucci duffel?"

"I got it to replace that one you had that broke on the subway. I know you said you rarely use a duffel, but, you never know. You might need it in case we go on any last minute trips or whatnot."

Kurt seems to miss that final comment as he gushes over his new bag. "But, you said you thought it was too frivolous! You said you thought it would make me look bourgeois."

"That's because I didn't want you to buy it before I got it for you."

"Let me guess…you got this from London, too?"

"Mais non," Sebastian says. "Paris, mon amour. I was there early this morning."

Kurt frowns. That doesn't sound right. He checks for the time on his phone. It doesn't show since he's on a call, but when he looked at it originally, before he picked up, it said the time was 10:17.

" _When_ this morning?" Kurt asks. "And how did you…"

Kurt's heart speeds up. He looks towards the staircase. The string continues down the steps to the next floor. Kurt tilts his head in thought, considering the possibility.

 _He couldn't be…could he?_

"What a minute…" Kurt leaves his new duffel and rushes down the steps. The lower level of the penthouse is dark, nearly pitch black, even at this time of day, since the windows are tinted and the blackout drapes have been pulled shut. The only light to be seen comes from a fully decorated, twelve foot noble fir sitting in the center of the living room. Kurt can see the shadow of a chair pulled up beside it, and sitting in the chair - a person.

"No…way…" Kurt pockets his phone and races down the staircase, the red string feeding through his fingers. "Sebastian!?"

"Hello, gorgeous," he says, looking exhausted, but supremely happy to see his boyfriend. "It sure as hell took you long enough to get down here."

"If I knew you were coming, I would have been awake." _And I wouldn't have gotten tipsy the night before_ , he thinks, but he leaves that part out.

"But that would have ruined the surprise." Sebastian sees Kurt race toward him full force, knowing that he intends on leaping into his lap, and as much as Sebastian wants him to, he puts up a hand to stop him. "Now, before you sit down and tell me what a good boy you've been, I need you to hold on one moment."

"Why?" Kurt asks, severely disappointed, his need to straddle his boyfriend and make-out for the next few hours overwhelming.

"Because you have more presents to find."

Kurt looks left and right, the string hanging limply from his hand. "Where?"

"Pull the string."

Kurt looks at the string, notices for the first time that it not only leads straight for Sebastian, but seems to disappear inside his fly. Kurt pulls the string. It tents Sebastian's pants.

"Careful how hard you pull, babe," Sebastian says. "You've got more than one present in there, and you don't want to bruise anything."

"So, I take it you're keeping your ego in your pants now, huh?"

"Not exactly."

"You know, believe it or not, your dick isn't the big Christmas present you think it is."

"Ouch," Sebastian says with a grin. "Well, it's a good thing there's something else in there, too."

"What?" Kurt asks, taking a step back with an eyebrow raised.

"Why don't you take a peek?"

Kurt tugs on the string again, harder, and Sebastian hisses.

"Well, that's one question answered," Kurt says, reaching for his zipper.

"Uh, don't you want to be on your knees when you do that?"

"In your dreams, Smythe," Kurt says. "You planned a business trip over the holidays. I bought you socks for Christmas."

Sebastian smirks, but he doesn't comment on Kurt's threatened gift. "Hopefully this will make up for that."

Kurt pulls the zip down carefully, trying not to destroy a pair of $800 slacks by running the zip over the string, and as expected, his boyfriend has opted to go commando…and is incredibly erect. Kurt rolls his eyes.

"Big surprise," he mumbles. But if he ignores Sebastian's hard-on, which the string is anchored to, he sees the most exquisite platinum and diamond ring he's ever laid eyes on. Kurt pulls the ring up along the string and takes a closer look. He thinks of the other presents, too – the cuff and the shoes, which Sebastian mentioned being for a possible special occasion; the duffel, in case they take any impromptu trips…

Kurt's jaw drops slowly, as an occasion to use all four presents hits him.

"Does this" - He holds up the ring, gaze meeting Sebastian's eyes shining in the dark – "mean what I think it means?"

"Yup," Sebastian says, tremendously satisfied with himself.

Kurt unties the string, which Sebastian has taken the liberty of tying into a neat bow, unwraps it from his dick, and retrieves the ring. Sebastian takes the ring from Kurt's hand and slips it on his finger. Kurt stares at it, half in awe and half disgust.

"You know, this is literally the vilest way anyone's ever proposed to me," Kurt says. Sebastian raises an eyebrow and Kurt backpedals. "Correction. It's a tie. Just tell me you don't have the Warblers or the New Directions hiding in there anywhere."

"Nope," Sebastian says, pulling his boyfriend/possible fiancé into his lap. "It's just you and me, and that's the way I want to keep it."

Kurt looks from the ring, to Sebastian's face. "You're seriously proposing to me?"

"Yes," Sebastian says, "I am seriously proposing to you, Kurt Hummel. So, what do you say?"

"Yes!" Kurt says, tears cluttering his throat. "As soon as I get this ring cleaned and sanitized, yes! I will marry you!"


End file.
